The subsea tieback scene unfolding in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has brightened with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) adding to its tieback opportunities after hitting hydrocarbon pay.

The Houston-based company, which closed its $2 billion acquisition of GoM assets from Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas on Dec. 15, said its Warrior exploration well struck more than 64 m (210 ft) of net oil pay in multiple Miocene-aged reservoirs. The company plans to tie the discovery to the nearby Marco Polo production facility, which stands in about 1,310 m (4,300 ft) of water in the Green Canyon area.

Drilling activity also led to the discovery of more oil at the Sigsbee Escarpment Phobos appraisal well near the deepwater Lucius Field in the Keathley Canyon area. The company said the appraisal well hit more than 27 m (90 ft) net of oil pay in a Pliocene-aged reservoir. The possibility for a tieback to the Lucius facility is being evaluated, Anadarko said, after noting drilling here is targeting the Wilcox Formation.

“The successes to date at Warrior and Phobos further demonstrate the value of our assets in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and our tieback strategy,” Anadarko CEO Al Walker said in a company statement Dec. 15.

Offshore-focused companies are increasingly opting to tie subsea wells to existing production facilities nearby. The move, which comes as the industry continues to heal from a crippling downturn, allows producers not only to cut costs but reduce the amount of time needed to reach first oil.

Earlier this year, Anadarko said it had identified as many as 30 low-cost tieback opportunities in the GoM. In addition to wells in the areas of Lucius and K2, which is in the vicinity of the Warrior well, these included up to eight wells in the Caesar/Tonga area and up to six wells in the Heidelberg area—both of which are in Green Canyon.

Analysts at Houston-based Quest Offshore forecast that at least 10 projects in the U.S. GoM could become subsea developments between second-half 2016 and 2018. That could be welcomed news for subsea tree manufacturers, a sector hard hit as companies pulled back from offshore projects.

With the acquisition of more GoM assets, subsea tieback opportunities could grow for Anadarko. The deal pumped Anadarko’s GoM production to more than 160,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, doubled its ownership in the Lucius development to just less than 50% and increased its total GoM operated facilities to 10.

However, in September, Walker said of the Freeport acquisition that “we don’t see much more than maintenance capex in front of us.”

This comes in addition to Anadarko, in an unrelated third-quarter 2016 deal, acquiring a 33% interest and operatorship in the Constellation discovery, which will be tied back to the Constitution spar that it owns.

“Anadarko now operates the largest number of floating production facilities in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which provides a competitive advantage to leverage this infrastructure into attractive new investment opportunities,” Walker said.

He added, “The expanded portfolio of deepwater facilities provides numerous hub-and-spoke opportunities that can generate rates of return of better than 50 percent at today’s prices.”

Analysts saw the acquisition as a positive for the company.

In a November analyst note, Barclays said the GoM acquisition strengthened Anadarko’s asset base and added the deal “should allow APC to put its deepwater rig commitments to better use.”

Velda Addison can be reached at vaddison@hartenergy.com.

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